Local News

Nestled in the woods and overgrowth next to the old Harriman Baptist Tabernacle on Old Roane Street hides numerous old graves.
The old church and fellowship hall is across the street from the current church building.

Church member Ralph Magill hopes someone in the community will step forward and identify someone responsible for the graves or offer to help fix up the overgrown plots.
“If they want to send us any paperwork. If they know anything about it,” Magill said.

Most people want out of jail.
Benjamin Heath Clark apparently wanted in Wednesday morning.
At approximately 2 a.m., Kingston police were dispatched to the Roane County Jail on Third Street about a possible drunk person.
“Upon arrival, I found Mr. Clark standing at the exit door of the RCSO (Roane County Sheriff’s Office), and had been trying to get in the jail side door,” Kingston Officer Roy Montgomery wrote in his report.

“Louie Buoy” is the winning name for the Roane County Visitors Bureau’s new “buoy” character created to help promote Watts Bar Lake.
The whimsical character is the first in a line of “weebul peepul” (or WBL PPL in chat slang) created to help promote the assets of Roane County’s Watts Bar Lake.
The character was created by Lisa Horstman, children’s book illustrator and author.

Commissioners unanimously agreed Monday night that the county’s property tax rate should remain the same.
The resolution to keep the tax rate at $2.18 per $100 valuation for the 2013-14 fiscal year passed 13-0.

“We’ve got some tough times ahead of us,” Commissioner Stanley Moore said. “That’s the reason I couldn’t vote for another tax increase.”
Two commissioners – Bobby Collier and Steve Kelley – did not attend the meeting.

James Nuckols was selected Monday to fill a vacancy on Rockwood City Council.
Nuckols will fill the unexpired term of Bill Thompson, a first-time council member who died last month after a lengthy illness.
“I’m just tickled to death he’s interested,” said council member Jason Jolly. “I know him and his family.”
Nuckols, a former member of the Rockwood Water, Sewer and Natural Gas board, was selected by Mayor James Watts and approved by Council members Jane Long, Jason Jolly and Pete Wright.

A deluge of rainfall and thunderstorms over a course of several days last week and through the weekend left the ground saturated and resulted in power outages around the county.
“Our guys have worked around the clock since Thursday,” said Tony Brown, assistant to Roane County Road Superintendent Dennis Ferguson.
“The biggest thing we had was trees falling across power lines and roads.”

Airport Road, which was already closed because of sliding, suffered more because of the heavy rain.

Rocky Houston has an attorney in his federal criminal case.
Appointing him one on Monday wasn’t easy, however.
“If you want an attorney, I will be the one to appoint them,” U.S. Magistrate C. Clifford Shirley Jr. said.
“I’m asking for a non-biased judge to appoint my attorney,” Houston responded.
“I am a non-biased judge,” Shirley said. “Either I appoint you a lawyer, or there isn’t a lawyer appointed for you.”

Dotson and his wife, Amanda, are charged with first-degree murder in the death of their 2-year-old son Clifford.
Sheriff Jack Stockton said Clifford weighed around 12 pounds at the time of his death in May 2012. The sheriff’s office investigator who worked on the case said a preliminary autopsy indicated the toddler died of severe malnutrition.
Matthew Dotson is out on bond while the case is pending.

The Roane County Beer Board voted 4-0 on Tuesday to deny Roma L. Christopher’s application for a beer permit.

The board heard from several people during the meeting, including Roy and Rebecca Harvey. Their son, David, was found dead outside the Grill & Pub on July 23, 2011.

Grill & Pub owner Grover Norton had his beer permit revoked for a year on Feb. 12. The revocation came less than a month after one of his employees was cited at the bar for allegedly selling a beer to an underage informant.

My deepest sympathy is extended to Barbara West and family in the recent home going of her husband, Arthur Lee West.
He passed Wednesday, June 26, at Spring City Care and Rehabilitation Center.
Arthur and Barbara had been married for 54 years and are parents of two children, one, Arthur Jr., deceased.
Services were last Wednesday, July 3.
Their family is in our prayers.